In an image forming apparatus such as a FAX, a printer, and a multi-functional peripheral, a surface of an image carrier such as a photoreceptor drum, which is charged uniformly, is exposed with light to form an electrostatic latent image, the electrostatic latent image is developed so as to be visualized, and the visualized image is transferred onto a recording paper or the like, resulting that a record image is obtained.
In such an image forming apparatus, a corona discharge apparatus (a main charger) provided with a charging wire as an electrode for discharge is generally used in order to charge the image carrier before exposure.
Moreover, the image forming apparatus is provided with a charging wire cleaning apparatus for cleaning a charging wire which gets dirt with the passage of time as it is used. As the charging wire cleaning apparatus, one that is configured so as to clean a charging wire by reciprocating a supporting body for supporting a cleaning pad to slide the charging wire has been known.
Concerning such a cleaning apparatus for a charging wire using corona discharge, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 1-223476 discloses a cleaning apparatus for cleaning a charging wire with a cleaning pad. The cleaning apparatus is composed of a cleaner unit which carries two pieces of the cleaner pads that slide each charging wire, respectively, a driving screw for moving it along the charging wire, and a driving motor for driving the driving screw.
Since a conventional cleaning pad is fixed to a supporting body that reciprocates, there is a problem of causing abrasion and damage of the cleaning pad by sliding along a charging wire, resulting that cleaning performance is lowered.